The present invention is directed to devices and methods for light distribution and control using modular multi-aperture reflector sheets in conjunction with luminaires. Merely by way of example, such luminaires can be utilized in such applications as parking lots, street lights, warehouses, stadiums, security, ports and harbors, large and small buildings, vehicle headlamps, billboard lighting, building facade lighting, airports, bridges, agriculture and horticulture lighting, architectural lighting, stage and entertainment lighting, medical illumination, microscopes, projectors and displays, ultraviolet (UV) water treatment, UV curing, any combination of these, and the like.
Light distribution is a common critical design parameter for lighting installations. Any installation project, be a parking lot, airport, or horticulture grow-house, requires custom, and often largely varied, light distribution based on safety, practical, and performance considerations. Individual luminaires are often fitted with optics such as reflectors, lenses, or a combination of these or similar devices to achieve the desired light distribution for a given application. Due to the unique requirements of most individual installations, it often requires several separate and unique optical reflectors and/or lenses to achieve the desired light distribution.
Complications arise in luminaire design and manufacturing when considering the required optics for many lighting installations. Often luminaire manufacturers need to have available in inventory multiple designs of reflectors and lenses with varying light distributions. Luminaires must be designed and manufactured to accommodate all the different optic designs and can add considerable design and manufacturing complication and ultimately more cost in both development and production of the luminaires. In some cases the dimensions of the luminaire can not accommodate using the reflector that is necessary to achieve the desired light distribution. In other cases, unique lenses are used in combination with standard reflectors to achieve desired light distribution. These lenses can be complicated in design and must be manufactured separately adding considerable cost to the luminaire as well.
Additional issues arise with light sources that produce UV light or an application that requires or desires UV light such as curing applications or horticulture grow installations. To save cost, lenses are usually made of plastic which UV degrades. Glass lenses block UV light, preventing or significantly reducing its transmission to its desired location.
In this invention, we introduce a modular system of multi-aperture reflective sheets that can be used in combination with standard or custom reflectors and other optical components to enhance, adjust, vary, or correct light distribution of a luminaire. The use of multi-aperture reflective sheets is aimed to accomplish several improvements for production and performance of luminaires. These include: 1. Reduce the complications that arise when attempting to accommodate multiple reflector and lens designs during development and manufacturing of luminaires; 2. Reduce cost in optical design by allowing the multi-aperture reflector sheets to enhance or adjust light distribution in combination with standard, simpler, and lower cost reflector designs; 3. Eliminate the use of complicated, difficult to produce, and costly lens designs with luminaires; 4. Simplify the process to change the light distribution pattern of a luminaire on site, 5. Allow UV light transmission which traditional glass or plastic lens typically block or absorb, and, 6. Allow the use of more compact luminaire designs to achieve the desired light distribution using smaller reflectors.